Herfast

Herfast
Bishop of Elmham then Bishop of Thetford
Appointed	1070
Term ended	1084
Predecessor	Æthelmær, Bishop of Elmham
Successor	William de Beaufeu, Bishop of Thetford
Orders
Consecration	1070
Personal details
Died	1084
Denomination	Roman Catholic Church


Lord Chancellor
In office 1068–1070
Monarch	William I of England
Preceded by	first in office
Succeeded by	Osmund

Herfast or Arfast (died 1084) was the first Lord Chancellor of Norman England. He was also bishop of Elmham and of Thetford.

Born in Normandy, Herfast joined William the Conqueror during the Norman Conquest of England and was appointed head of the royal writing office after the Battle of Hastings. He was Lord Chancellor of England from 1068 to 1070. After serving as Lord Chancellor, he was consecrated Bishop of Elmham in 1070, but about 27 May 1072 he moved the see to Thetford, thus becoming Bishop of Thetford. He had a conflict with the Bury St. Edmunds Abbey, and when the case was brought forward, the Archbishop of Canterbury Lanfranc ruled against Herfast. He signed the Accord of Winchester in 1072 and died in 1084. He was a married bishop, and his sons held land in Norfolk at the time of Domesday Book in 1086.